VPLS

MPLS and LDP must be configured and working before a VPLS instance can be configured.

Creating a VPLS Instance

Navigate to the ‘MPLS’ menu and click ‘VPLS’. The default tab, ‘VPLS’, is for LDP signalled VPLS. Click ‘New’ to create a new instance.

Enter the peer address under ‘Remote Peer’. Enter the VPLS ID in the ‘Cisco Static ID’ field; do not use the ‘VPLS ID’ field. Mikrotik terminology differs from that of other vendors; in particular, ‘Cisco Static ID’ refers to a single integer VPLS ID, as per Juniper’s vpls-id configuration statement. Trying to use the ‘VPLS ID’ field is enough to cause failure of LDP neighbourship establishment with a Juniper device.

Add the VPLS instance to a bridge, to enable either setting a local IP address on the bridge, or bridging to physical ports.

The ‘Status’ tab includes useful fields, including the last link up & down times, and the remote & local MPLS labels used for the circuit.

Setting up a Juniper SRX320 Neighbour

To use the Juniper SRX320 as a router, enter the following configuration;

delete security
set security forwarding-options family mpls mode packet-based
set security forwarding-options family iso mode packet-based
set security forwarding-options family inet6 mode packet-based

Reboot the device, as directed. This step is specific to SRX devices used as routers.

The VPLS will be handed over untagged on a physical interface. Add the ethernet-vpls encapsulation to the physical interface, and add the vpls family to the logical interface.

set interfaces <=INTERFACE> encapsulation ethernet-vpls
set interfaces <=INTERFACE> unit 0 family vpls

Define a routing instance for the VPLS.

set routing-instances <=NAME> protocols vpls no-tunnel-services
set routing-instances <=NAME> protocols vpls vpls-id <=VPLS ID>
set routing-instances <=NAME> protocols vpls neighbor <=NEIGHBOUR IP>
set routing-instances <=NAME> protocols vpls connectivity-type ce
set routing-instances <=NAME> interface <=INTERFACE>.0
set routing-instances <=NAME> description "<=DESCRIPTION>"
set routing-instances <=NAME> instance-type vpls
set routing-instances <=NAME> vlan-id none

Two statements deserve further explanation. no-tunnel-services allows the use of VPLS on a device without tunnel services embedded into an FPC, by creating a virtual lsi interface.

connectivity-type determines when the router will signal that the VPLS is up to the other end of the circuit. The connectivity-type ce mode is akin to link forwarding; an interface in the routing instance must be up for the VPLS tunnel to come up. An alternative to connectivity-type ce is connectivity-type permanent, which will permanently signal the VPLS as up, as long as the other end of the circuit is up.